POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: macros951 on July 09, 2006, 05:26:23 am
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11 days ago I was involved in what has been described, in archived posts here as a low to very low risk encounter for HIV. I will avoid going into details as although I'm still a little concerned nothing can be done but wait & have the test.
What I want to know is if I had contracted HIV, would my semen today, 11 days later contain HIV? I realise there may not be a clear cut/definate answer but I would like to know as I've done something stupid. >:(
I suspect what I might be refering to is seroconversion but I dont want to go searching the web for answers but thought I'd come here instead.
Thanks people.
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Can't give you a reply without knowing your risk. Sorry.
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Sorry. Vaginal intercourse for possibly up to a couple minutes after a condom broke with female sex worker. As this has been covered numerous times in archived posts I didnt go into details.
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OK Macro,
Given that you report a broken condom, then you need to test for HIV 12-13 weeks from the date of this sexual encounter. Don't fret, HIV is a fragile virus and is difficult to transmit, especially from female to male. I would encourage you to read our Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) which contains links to the AIDSMEDS testing and transmissions lessons.
Sexually active people should have a full STD screen (which includes an HIV antibody test) at least twice a year. STD's such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea are far more prevalent and infectious than HIV. I would recommend that you make an appointment with your doctor or local sexual health clinic.
Take care,
MtD
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Thanks for replying Matty. At this stage I've accepted the broken condom, I was only posting this for a bit of background to my situation. It was the 2nd part that I was hoping to find out a little more on.
What I want to know is if I had contracted HIV, would my semen today, 11 days later contain HIV? I realise there may not be a clear cut/definate answer but I would like to know as I've done something stupid
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I realise this is a little hypothetical & some people may not wish to indulge my concern, but my concern is for someone else.
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Thanks for replying Matty. At this stage I've accepted the broken condom, I was only posting this for a bit of background to my situation. It was the 2nd part that I was hoping to find out a little more on.
What you think is just "background" is really the relevant part of your post. Hence the question that Roddles posed above.
I realise this is a little hypothetical & some people may not wish to indulge my concern, but my concern is for someone else.
Brother if you think you've been exposed to HIV (or any other STD) then you should consider yourself potentially infectious and you need to test. It necessarily follows that anyone else who has had unprotected anal or vaginal sex with you should test also.
There's no hypothetical about this. You should be tested and so should your sexual partners. That way everyone's covered.
I would state again that your chances of having contracted HIV infection from this encounter are very low.
MtD
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Mac, I appreciate your concern. You haven't mentioned if you are in a relationship or not. As far as your concern about possible risk to others, you should be using a condom everytime you have intercourse.
The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. All but the smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will do so within 4-6 weeks after an exposure to the virus.
Given the circumstances of the single and partially protected incident you described, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor against transmission having occured. Of course very low risk is not the same as no risk so testing is warranted. You can if you wish test at 6 weeks just to relieve your mind. Assuming you get the negative result I expect you should still re-test at 13 weeks to confirm the earlier result.
Please clarify if there is something I have missed here.
Cheers,
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Thanks for the info people.
Just wanted another opinion if anyones got a sec. I was at the Doctors last week for an unrelated visit & decided to get an HIV test. This was at 5 weeks & it came back negative. I was a little reassured by this.
Just wondering if I should be testing again at 6 weeks or just wait the 13. Testing again so soon seems a little pointless & has be thinking that I might be getting a little obsessive.
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Macros951,
Your 5 week test is an excellent indication of your hiv status.
At this point, I would recommend that you wait for the 12/13 week mark for a conclusive result (which I wouldn't expect to change).
Morgan
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Thanks for replying Morgan.
Much to my dismay I have just realised its actually only been 4 weeks. If I had of realised earlier I wouldnt have bothered testing. As far as I know 4 weeks is pretty borderline as being the earliest you bother testing. Would this change your recommendation?
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Macros,
The average time to seroconversion is only 22 DAYS, so your test is not completely meaningless. If you were actually seroconverting, your test would likely have come back as intermediate, not negative.
You were protected up until the condom broke and it is unlikely that you would be infected in this manner. I've yet to see the insertive partner test positive after a condom break. However, you should still confirm your four week negative at the 12-13 week point.
I'm expecting another negative result.
Ann
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Not wanting to open the whole symptoms can of worms thing but I was wanting to clarify something as I'm having a hard time keeping my nerves in check.
Are symptoms1 generally associated with seroconversion? If so, would it be possible to say that symptoms I was experiencing when tested werent HIV related as if they were the result would have come back +. Or is this not always the case.
This may be a silly question but I think I'm just trying to justify the way I'm feeling & organise my concerns in a logical manner. Sorry if I'm rambling. I'm a little panicky atm which isnt helping. :-[
1I realise that symptoms arent an accurate guideline, shouldnt be analysed & there could be numerous different explanations for whats going on in my body.
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HIV has no specific symptoms. Symptoms is no way of telling ones status only testing at the proper time will give you the results you are looking for.
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macros,
Hiv antibody tests can come back with one of three results. Negative, positive or indeterminate. If you were seroconverting at the time of your test, the results most likely would have come back as indeterminate. Indeterminate means that some of the bands came back positive, but not enough for a solid positive result. Thus, it cannot be determined whether you are positive or negative.
And by the way, if a person is seroconverting, they don't necessarily have symptoms - but symptoms or the lack of symptoms have no bearing on the test result. The ONLY thing that has bearing on your test result is the presence or absence of antibodies specific to hiv infection.
Seroconversion is the name put on the process that happens when your body is making antibodies.
Ann
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Thank-you for taking the time to answer my concerns.
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macros,
Glad to help.
I'd like to add some further information, both for your benefit and the benefit of all the others who will read this thread.
Seroconversion illness is what some people experience while their body is making antibodies to a pathogen. Hiv seroconversion illness is not the body's response to the virus itself, but to the process of making antibodies.
One of the chemicals released by the body during this process is called interferon. Interferon can cause a person to feel tired, achy, run a temperature and generally feel like shit. This is where the "flu-like" symptoms come from. Interferon is created by the body and released in varying amounts in response to any one of thousands of pathogens. This is why symptoms cannot diagnose hiv. The body's response is a general one that can be created by the introduction into the body of many different pathogens.
Some people's bodies do not react to interferon as strongly. This is evidenced by the varying responses to interferon when the synthetic version is given to a patient for certain other illnesses.
Some people experience a noticeable seroconversion illness while others do not - and this in part depends on a person's tolerance to interferon. This is why symptoms are meaningless when it comes to hiv diagnosis. ONLY antibody testing will reveal one's hiv status.
Ann
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Hello.
First of all I want to thank you all for the great work you are doing in helping people through difficult times.
My question. I am a male and unfortunately am quite hairy on the shaft of my penis. Subsequently, when I have intercourse with a condom, occasionally a hair can get caught and is pulled which can be a little uncomfortable.
I had a recent sexual experience with a sex worker where this happened. My concern is that after we had sex I realised she was bleeding and I had blood over the condom.
Post coitus:
- 1 week later I developed a red sore on my penis where the hair was pulled and a Dr diagnosed it as folliculitis.
- 2 weeks later I had a an outbreak of blisters in the same area as the red sore which was confirmed as HSV2 via swab. First outbreak.
I understand HIV needs to enter the bloodstream for it to be contracted, but under the circumstances I have described, am I worrying about nothing?
Thanks again
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Hiya,
Yeah, you are worrying about nothing, it's was not an HIV concern.
If this was your only sexual encounter then relax and, move on with your life
Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, every time, no exceptions. Consider starting PrEP as an additional layer of HIV protection going forward
Keep in mind that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safe’ in terms of HIV transmission might still pose a risk for transmission of other STI's, so please do get fully tested regularly and at least yearly for all STI's including but not limited to HIV and test more frequently if unprotected intercourse occurs
Also note that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms and the only way of knowing is by testing.
More information on HIV Basics, PEP, TaSP and Transmission can be found through the links in my signature to our POZ pages, this includes information on HIV Testing (https://poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/hiv-testing)
Kind regards
Jim
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Thanks Jim. Its been a stressful couple weeks and just when I thought it couldnt get any worse, this scenario popped into my head.
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Just a followup question. I've been investigating my recent diagnosis of HSV2 and its reported that people with HSV2 are more susceptible to contracting HIV and I'm trying to understand why. I always practice safe sex, but am still concerned whether this is enough now.
I understand if I had open lesions on my penis there could be a risk of contracting HIV through them, and also that skin is a good barrier to HIV. But i found an article article from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, which i think would be reliable, reporting that it found HIV targets sites of healed HSV2 lesions and also once there, it replicates quicker.
Unfortunately the article doesnt say why this is an issue, so I'm wondering is skin only a good barrier if it is healthy skin, non HSV2 compromised? Do we know why HSV2 are more vulnerable to HIV?
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/why-genital-herpes-boosts-risk-hiv-infection (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/why-genital-herpes-boosts-risk-hiv-infection)
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Hiya,
I always practice safe sex
No such thing when talking about sex or STI's, it's safer, not safe.
Firstly understand that HIV can not transmit through an intact condom, although condoms, unfortunately, can break mostly as they tend to be incorrectly used, asides from this obvious flaw they are also inconsistently used.
Now on the wider STI topic, although HIV can not transmit thought an intact condom, the levels of protection for various STIs depends greatly on differences in how the diseases or infections are transmitted. Some infections (Not HIV) are more harden against the environment, transmitted primarily by skin-to-skin, skin to sore contact, which unlike HIV may infect areas not covered by a condom (Such as genital herpes, human papillomavirus [HPV] infection, syphilis, and chancroid).
The theory of STI "increasing" the odds of HIV transmission is if you have a preexisting STI to you causing let's say as example inflammation or open sores on the top of your penis than it might when you do take an already known risk, lets say unprotected intercourse increase the likelihood of HIV being transmitted to you via the open wounds inside the confines of the human body where HIV is present at levels and viable copies that could infect. Having Herpes, however, does not change the conditions needed for HIV to be viable and to transmit. So not a factor in your case.
However, having sex with a Herpes, there are medicines that also decrease the number of days you can spread the virus - perhaps look into that for yourself with your doc and, whilst you are at it consider talking to them about PrEP as an additional layer of HIV protection going forward
Jim
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Thanks Jim. Once again I appreciate your input on my situation and I'm sorry for taking your valuable time. It looks like you are a busy man on this forum.
One last question, I hope, I have HPV and while I do get this treated when needed, at the time of intercourse I had an HPV at the base of my penis roughly where the condom rolls down to. Due to its location, the condom doesnt properly cover it. Would this be considered a risk as it may have come in contact with blood?
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Hiya
You're welcome and, no it's not a HIV concern
Best, Jim